Axel Springer
Axel Springer is a German multinational media company headquartered in Berlin that specializes in mass and online media. Its services encompass advertising, printing, publishing, a portfolio of digital classifieds, and marketing models. The company’s operations are divided into three main segments: News, Classifieds, and Marketing Media, and it owns over 200 brands globally. Axel Springer support for Zionism, racist and Islamophobic remarks, and its involvement in benefiting from illegal settlements make it a target for boycott.
The Pledge
Axel Springer staff are required to adhere to Axel Springer's principles, which include:
- Freedom, the rule of law, democracy, and a united Europe.
- We support the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel.
- We advocate the transatlantic alliance between the United States of America and Europe.
- We uphold the principles of a free market economy and its social responsibility.
- We reject political and religious extremism and all forms of racism and sexual discrimination.
According to their website, this "Vision" applies to all companies owned or belonging to Axel Springer, including news networks and papers like Bild and Business Insider or tech companies like Idealo.
Support of Apartheid Israel
Other than the unconditional support to the state of Israel, which was provided by the company and required from all employees, subsidiaries, and brands, Axel Springer actively supports the state of Apartheid and the illegal occupation of Palestinian homes and territories in the West Bank and even celebrates that they hire former IDF soldiers.
Enforced Zionism
When Purchasing the political website Politico for $1 billion, Axel Springer's CEO stated that despite the fact that US employees, unlike their German counterparts, won't be required to sign a formal agreement to adhere to their values, including supporting the right of Israel to exist and the free market, the company CEO still views this support as a core principle.
The CEO mentioned on their skewed principles:
"are like a constitution, they apply to every employee of our company. [Employees who disagreed] should not work for Axel Springer, very clearly.”
Firing Employees That Question Unwavering Israel Support
In Oct. 2023, Axel Springer fired a Lebanese employee after inquiring in regards to the company's unwavering support for Israel and after trying to debunk IDF's known false claims in his YouTube channel.
The managers at Axel Springer simply stated as an explanation for their Israel policy:
We are Germans and we need to do this
In 2021, Axel Springer CEO Mathias Doepfner told employees that those who don't support the company's pro-Israel stance should quit and leave. This came after staff complained about an Israeli flag raised at the Berlin headquarters during the war on the besieged Gaza Strip in May 2021, which killed 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, in the besieged Gaza Strip and 13 people in Israel, including two children. Doepfner said raising the flag was a gesture of solidarity with Israel and against what he referred to as "antisemitic demonstrations". However, Dopfer is utilizing racism, xenophobia, and a twisted narrative to conflate any support for Palestine as antisemitic as a tool to silence any criticism of Israel. German-Jewish writer Fabian Wolff, during this time, criticized German media's pro-Israel bias, arguing it's not about combating antisemitism but making Germans feel good.
Zionisim Über Alles
In a delusional hallucination, the CEO of Axel Springer rambles in an essay published in The Free Press, dreaming of an America that "loves freedom" and positing this as the rationale for unwavering support for Israel. He labels those who oppose Israel's right to exist as extremist enemies. In his narrative, he imagines Salafists in Berlin distributing sweets to celebrate antisemitism instead of the liberation of an oppressed people. In this propagandistic piece, Döpfner perpetuates false and debunked IDF narratives, uncritically amplifying IDF propaganda. Döpfner further stresses a point that has no place but as a right-wing agitation towards Muslims in general, where he states that no "relevant" Muslim nation has distanced itself from the attacks on Oct. 7th despite the statements from Arab and majority Muslim states, such as the one made by the UAE.
He then continues to "not believe" that different associations, politicians, countries, or movements, while condemning the attack that happened on Israel on Oct 7th, they still did not take an immediate stance to unconditionally support the imperialist colonial entity's effort to eradicate what's left of the Palestinian people. He then states that a cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage exchange deal is a way to hinder Israel from defending itself and labels any support for the freedom of Palestinian people as "supporting Hamas" and antisemitism.
Email Leaks
In 2023, an investigative reporter from Die Zeit published an email chain leaked of Döpfner, in which he cleared his political stance was Zionism über alles.
He was quoted saying:
free west, fuck the intolerant muslims and all the other nonsense [...] Whoever opens the doors will reap racism. [...] And of course: Zionism above all else. Israel my country.
Media Manipulation
An investigative report by MEMO Monitoring in 2024 examined the pro-Israel bias in the German press and the influence of Axel Springer, which controls a significant portion of the German press and dozens of outlets around the world and requires its employees to support Israel's right to exist.
The coverage included some disturbing headlines, such as Die Welt on January 15, 2024, where the headline declared, "Around 9,000 terrorists killed in Gaza so far," and the framing of any protest in Germany against the genocide as "antisemitic," while labeling areas with people of Islamic or Arabic origins as "no-go zones for Jews." Axel Springer has systematically and intentionally echoed the Israeli IOF narrative instead of providing unbiased reporting as a media conglomerate. They have instructed their employees to emphasize Israeli stories over Palestinian ones, aiming to persuade the public that the attack on Gaza is justified regardless of the intent.
In the following video, journalist Alexander Morris looks at some of the German media's recent coverage around Israel's war on Gaza, and some of the most blatant examples of pro-Israel bias and the discourse around 'imported anti-Semitism', the idea that migrants and not native Germans are responsible for anti-Semitism.
Upday & Samsung News
Upday is a news aggregation app crafted by Axel Springer and Samsung Electronics. It is preinstalled on Samsung Galaxy smartphones (One UI), and the Samsung News app is curated from Upday in North America and Europe.
According to interviews with employees and different documents, the leadership at Upday instructed employees to downplay Palestinian civilian deaths and to prioritize the Israeli perspective.
According to one of the employees:
We can’t push anything involving Palestinian death tolls or casualties without information about Israel coming higher up in the story.
referring to the content of push notifications sent to millions of users.
Upday warned its employees not to publish any headlines that could be “misconstrued” as pro-Palestinian, according to the employees interviewed. Comments made by Israeli politicians dehumanizing Palestinians were to be framed in language emphasizing the magnitude and brutality of Hamas’s attacks on Israel and to not quote any Palestinian militant groups in headlines.
Even when refuting the allegations of directing journalists to ignore civilian casualties in Gaza, manipulating news coverage, or corporate interference in editorial decisions, they still admit that Upday, as a news aggregator, has to operate in a biased manner to adhere to the required pledge of all employees and subsidiaries of Axel Springer; including the supporting Israel right to exist, which for Axel Springer seems to mean unconditional support for the state of Israel what and whatever it does, and the dehumanization fo any opposition anywhere in the world.
Upday's officials' support for the state of Israel is evident in the fact that the CEO Thomas Hirsch liked Axel Springer's statement on LinkedIn in support of Israel after October 7th, and according to the employees, the Israeli flag was next to the CEO's name in the company's Slack.
Axel Springer is looking to end Upday in its current form to concentrate more on "AI" by the end of 2024
Facebook News
In May 2021, Facebook and Axel Springer began a partnership that allows Axel Springer to distribute content from Bild, Welt, and Business Insider through various channels on Facebook and Facebook News. This content will be available to users in Great Britain, Germany, and the United States.
Additionally, Upday will be responsible for aggregating news in the background for Facebook News.
OpenAI's ChatGPT
In December 2023, OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, and Axel Springer announced a partnership in which ChatGPT will deliver summaries of Axel Springer's content in response to queries.
As part of the deal, when users ask ChatGPT a question, the chatbot will provide summaries of relevant news stories from Axel Springer brands, including Politico, Business Insider, Bild, and Welt, as soon as they are published. These summaries will include paywalled content and breaking news, citing the Axel Springer publication as the source and providing a link to the full article.
According to Reuters, Axel Springer's content will receive a "favorable position" in ChatGPT search results, aiming to drive traffic and subscription revenue to Axel Springer brands.
OpenAI's head of intellectual property and content stated that OpenAI would pay for Axel Springer's current and archived content to train the large language models that power ChatGPT. This raises concerns about how OpenAI will handle biased reporting and language to ensure it doesn't seep into the generative model. The deal also includes support for Axel Springer to utilize OpenAI's technologies.
Microsoft AI & MSN
In April 2024, Microsoft and Axel Springer announced a partnership that will make Axel Springer’s content accessible through Microsoft Start-MSN, Microsoft's news aggregator. Additionally, Axel Springer will use Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to create new AI-driven experiences, ensuring users are more heavily exposed to Axel Springer’s content. Furthermore, Axel Springer will use Microsoft Advertising’s Chat Ads API for generative AI monetization.
Historical German Brainwashing
The blatant support for Israel and the intentional manipulation, however, is not new for Axel Springer. In 1967, during the Six-Day Arab-Israel war, right-wing mogul Axel Springer supported American imperialism and Israel in the Middle East. Springer quipped that he had published Israeli newspapers in German for six days to support and sway public opinion in western Germany.
Benefiting & Promoting Illegal Settlements
Axel Springer's support for Israel extends to various financial interests and gains. Axel Springer owns the website Yad2, an Israeli online ads platform similar to Craigslist. It is the largest platform of its kind in Israel. Users can post ads for free, but certain categories, such as real estate brokers or dealers, must pay for their listings to reach a broader audience.
Yad2 includes ads for real estate listings in Israeli settlements that are considered illegal under international law. In December 2023, Yad2 ran an ad with the slogan “From the River to the Sea,” depicting a map of Israel and Palestine with pins dropped all over. The map disregarded internationally recognized borders and included occupied Palestinian territory. Below the co-opted protest slogan, the ad continued in Hebrew: “Yad2 helps you look forward and build a future in your next home in Israel.”
Yad2 contains thousands of apartments for sale and for rent in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Of those, some were paid ads. This means Yad2, and therefore Axel Springer, illegally made money on them according to international law.
Some of the ads are for homes in settlements considered illegal even under Israeli law; other home listings appear on private Palestinian land that was seized by the Israeli military but now hosts Jewish settlers. The website features a map searchable by region — a map where Palestinian villages and towns seem to not exist.
The Yad2 listings include properties for purchase or rent in extremists settlements in the West Bank, including Kochav Ha’Shachar, Kedumim, Talmon, Shilo, Eli, Psagot, Tekoa, Otniel, and Susiya. These settlements exclusively cater to Jewish Israelis.
Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law by the United Nations Security Council, other international bodies, and every nation in the world except for Israel and the United States.
Springer’s revenue from ads for West Bank settlements homes isn’t limited to extant homes. Yad2’s sub-website, Yad1, also sometimes features ads to buy into a construction project in West Bank settlements. Yad1 has a geographic subsection titled “Judea and Samaria,” a term for the West Bank favored by Israel’s pro-settler right. Yad1 markets apartments across Israel–Palestine exclusively for the religious Jewish population — something the company faced scrutiny for in the Israeli media.
Racism
Axel Springer and their subsidiary WELT have utilized xenophobia, islamophobia, and plain racism on multiple occasions in their reporting against people of the Middle East. Since October 7th, they have shamelessly marked people's support calls for the end of Apartheid, and the right and UN recognized Palestine's right of liberation as antisemitism.
WELT and its sister companies would intentionally and consciously utilize and magnify a perpetrator's religion or background when they are Muslims or from a Middle Eastern origin to push the reader towards a discriminatory stance. They would interview and center the opinion of right-wing politicians and showcase their opinions without real criticism.
Sexisim
in 2021, an investigation was conducted into the editor of Bild, Julian Reichelt, following reports by Der Spiegel that he had created a hostile work environment for women. The allegations included claims that he invited female trainees to dinner via Instagram, quickly promoted them, and then abruptly demoted them. Axel Springer, Bild's parent company, hired a law firm to look into these claims, as well as accusations of power abuse and drug use at work. Axel Springer's internal investigation claimed it found no evidence of sexual harassment or coercion. Reichelt admitted to making "mistakes" and apologized. After only a 12-day leave, he returned to his role, only to be dismissed later in the same year for continued misconduct.
That's how it always goes at Bild. Those who sleep with the boss get a better job.
Throughout the investigation, Axel Springer and its CEO Döpfner tried to protect, support and shield Reichelt.
Information was last updated on: July 2024
Sources:
- Axel Springer What Defines Us
- Axel Springer Brands
- Axel Springer We Stand With Israel
- Axel Springer Making sure "Never Again" is not just an empty phrase
- Axel Springer Axel Springer and OpenAI partner to deepen beneficial use of AI in journalism
- Axel Springer Axel Springer and Facebook agree on global cooperation
- The New York Times Axel Springe, German Publisher, Is Dead At 73
- Dissent Magazine “Zionism Über Alles”
- Zeit Aber das ist dennoch die einzige Chance, um den endgültigen Niedergang des Landes zu vermeiden*
- Haaretz New Politico Owner Says Will Enforce pro-Israel Policy
- The Wall Street Journal Politico’s New Owner Plans to Grow Staff, Launch Paywall
- The Intercept Axel springer Fires Lebanese Employee Who Questioned Pro-Israel Stance
- The Intercept Europe’s Largest News Aggregator Orders Editors To Play Down Palestinian Deaths
- The Intercept German Media Giant Axel Springer Makes Money On Israel's Illegal Settelments.
- Middle East Monitor MEMO Monitoring: Exposing the German media's pro-Israel bias
- Middle East Eye Axel Springer: German publisher tells pro-Palestinian staff to quit
- Israel Hayom Europe's largest digital publishing house tells anti-Israel staff to find new jobs
- The Free Press The Things I Never Thought Possible—Until October 7
- United Arab Emirates Ministry Of Foreign Affairs In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for the protection of civilians and stressed that the immediate priority is to end the violence and protect the civilian population.
- Welt Israels Armee: Bisher etwa 9000 Terroristen in Gaza getötet
- Upday About Samsung News
- Digiday Progress report: Axel Springer news aggregator Upday is ‘holding its own’
- LinkdIn Axel Springer Statement
- Ice יד2 מקשיבה לביקורות: הסירה מודעות שכירות "לדתיים בלבד"
- The New York Time At Axel Springer, Politico’s New Owner, Allegations of Sex, Lies and a Secret Payment
- Der Spiegel »Vögeln, fördern, feuern«
- Financial Times Women spoke up, men cried conspiracy: inside Axel Springer’s #MeToo moment
- Press Gazzette Secrecy, boredom and a ban on working elsewhere: Inside the Facebook News factory
- Microsoft Axel Springer and Microsoft expand partnership across advertising, AI, content and Azure services
- Reuters Global news publisher Axel Springer partners with OpenAI in landmark deal
- Reuters German prosecutors close sexual harassment investigation of Bild publisher
- Reuters Facebook, German publisher Axel Springer strike global cooperation deal